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It’s well known that Republicans all over the country are doing what comes naturally by seeking to restrict the franchise, most notably through voter ID laws that will disproportionately affect poor and minority voters, restrictions on voter registration drives, and cutbacks on “convenience voting.” It’s even been called “the war on voting” in Ari Berman’s phrase.
But a less well-known phenonmenon might be called “bankrupting the vote,” as states and localities (particular cities with heavily Democratic electorates) struggling with fiscal crises simply can’t afford to adequately staff and administer elections.
Patricia Zengerle of Reuters has a must-read report on this phenomenon:
In Detroit, the city clerk warned last week that the Rust Belt city would have trouble holding the November 6 presidential election under a slimmed-down budget the mayor proposed to address years of deep financial problems.
In Jefferson County, Alabama, the local government was so short of cash for elections that it used road repair crews to staff the state’s Republican presidential primary last month.
And in South Carolina, a $500,000 shortfall after the state’s Republican primary in January led elections officials to consider a sponsorship deal with comedian Stephen Colbert, who plays a mock conservative pundit on his late-night TV show.
With cities and counties across the United States in dire financial straits, many local officials are struggling to come up with the millions of dollars they will need to hold the November 6 elections. That is likely to mean fewer election workers and long lines for voters, which could reduce turnout.
It is a problem that could affect candidates and political parties in November but particularly President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats, who are relying on support from big cities such as Detroit.
Worse yet, the “war on voting” can immensely increase the financial pressures on local voting administration, enhancing the suppressive effect.
New, stricter voter registration laws in some states such as Florida could exacerbate the problem by raising the need for more elections workers to verify voters’ eligibility.
Local governments across the nation are planning to shift costs - putting off road repairs for a few days while transit crews work on elections, or borrowing workers from other departments to help count votes.
But they also are laying off staff who would have helped with voter questions, and cutting back the hours that polls are open.
Besides raising constitutional questions about whether some people will have enough opportunity to vote, the situation could have an impact on close elections, analysts say.
No kidding. I try not to be a broken record on this, but this country’s failure to do anything after 2000 to significantly reduce state and local disparities in how elections are conducted invites another Florida disaster. Indeed, with Rick Scott’s Florida at the center of the “war on voting,” Florida could well produce another Florida.
But it’s particularly interesting to watch Republicans simultaneously promote austerity policies for state and local governments and new restrictions on voting. Many conservatives favor the former as an end in itself, but are receiving a sort of bonus as competent election administration becomes one of those luxuries many jurisdictions can’t quite afford.
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JMG on April 26, 2012 8:59 AM:
The costs of conducting federal elections should be borne by the federal government, and paid for by a tax on campaign contributions to candidates for national office.
Never happen, of course. America doesn't WANT democracy. We will happily vote in government exclusively of the wealthy we recognize as born to rule.
terraformer on April 26, 2012 9:05 AM:
I'm right there with you, Ed. There are so many transparent, mendacious things that Republicans do that should be spotlighted and hammered, and this is one of the prime ones. Yet we really don't see or hear any concerted pushback against voter disenfranchisement and voting fraud.
And I don't know why - it's an easy one. Low-hanging fruit. Yet every day without pushback is another day for lies and truthiness to become cemented as fact. Indeed, all of the money in politics right now is best spent not on attack ads or (sad to say) even GOTV efforts: it's instead worth every penny to find and payoff those involved with local elections - and who have access to electronic voting tallies - to manipulate results in the favor of those paying them. Tin-foil conspiracy? See Ohio, 2004.
boatboy_srq on April 26, 2012 9:09 AM:
SO: "austerity" budgeting is reducing the ability to hold free, fair elections.
Feature, not bug.
martin on April 26, 2012 9:10 AM:
Privatize the primaries! Let the parties finance their own primaries.
Actual elections, however, do need to be properly and equitably financed at all levels of government.
T2 on April 26, 2012 9:10 AM:
the interesting and frightful part of this discussion is that, somewhere, Republicans actually have to sit around and plan these actions. It's not accidental that heavily Democratic districts suffer. Its not an accident that election laws are being skewered to impede minority turnout and urban turnout. Lets look at Houston, Texas - in the last TX governor race between Rick "Oops" Perry and a Democrat that was formerly the popular mayor of Houston, a fire in a Houston warehouse destroyed almost all of the area's voting machines. The result was very limited polling, with block long lines frequent, especially in minority districts. The result was a low vote count, in an urban area that heavily favored Perry's opponent. Now, one can't say the Republican's burned the warehouse, of course.
Kathryn on April 26, 2012 9:30 AM:
@T2.......vaguely remember hearing about fire, was it arson? Kind of ironic that the extreme right wing is rife with phony conspiracy theories while it's also the right wing that works overtime with dirty tricks and outright criminal undercover activity to cheat and buy their way into office, the real compriacies exist in the GOP. Actually, ironic isn't quite right, nauseating and criminal works better. From what I've read, Texas is a solely owned criminal enterprise controlled by corrupt businessmen, political operatives with a useful fool playing the governor.
Hedda Peraz on April 26, 2012 9:35 AM:
Simplify the process; one person, one vote.
Perhaps we can borrow some purple dye from Iraq. . .
stormskies on April 26, 2012 9:59 AM:
And how come none of this criminal activity, dirty tricks to manipulate the vote for the scum bag Repiglicans, is ever reported on any of the corporate news ? We don't see any reports on any of the nightly propaganda = news shows, we don't hear or see it on any of the Sunday news shows, and we don't see it anywhere other than some of MSNBC'S night shows like with Rachel Maddow.
How come ? The answer is of course why the corporations pay the likes of Brian "I am not a corporate cum slut" Williams the millions that they do as they do all the rest of the 'media elite'.
boatboy_srq on April 26, 2012 10:00 AM:
@Kathryn:
Ironic? Hardly. Projection. They ascribe to all those "godless libruls" the actions they take themselves (with examples of their own action in parens), from verbal abuse (Breitbart/Limbaugh/others) to cooked-up stories (ACORN videos) to manipulation of markets and public resources for partisan gain (ENRON and Gray Davis' recall) to fear-for-their-life stories of armies of soshulists out to shoot them on the campaign trail (Giffords). They expect the Left to go after them with the same toolset they use against the Left, and they use that expectation as cover for their own bad acts.
And when caught, the double down (West/Limbaugh), shriek about "both sides do it" loud enough to get that reported, or dismiss the actions as the fault of "a few bad apples" (GWB).
james on April 26, 2012 10:07 AM:
Republicans are authoritarians. These laws are reflect their craving for one-party rule, their party, kind of like Communists, Fascists, and other dictators.
Frankly, I kept expecting George W. Bush would suspend the Constitution, declare martial law, and proclaim himself president for life, all under the guise of anti-terrorism and national security.
RepublicanPointOfView on April 26, 2012 10:20 AM:
1) Save money by dramatically reducing the polling places, like we did in Cleveland in 2004. Even better, eliminate polling places in black cities like Detroit.
2) We republicans believe that government is always incompetent and our elected officials prove it all the time. Financial capabilities are beyond the point. Example: Waukesha County Wisconsin.
3) We could save enormous amounts of money by going back to the intent of our founding fathers that only white, male property owners are allowed to vote.
DRF on April 26, 2012 10:29 AM:
Why, exactly, do the states spend taxpayer dollars to pay for party primaries? Why aren't the parties paying for these?
As to general elections, it's just one more sign that the U.S. is heading towards second world status, not because we lack the necessary wealth, but because we lack to will to increase tax rates to raise revenue--we aren't willing to spend money to repair the deteriorating infrastructure or even to pay for efficiently and fairly run elections.
Karen on April 26, 2012 10:46 AM:
I feel like we're entering the era of New Feudalism.
The rich get richer -- internationally. The pretense that national boundaries or patriotism still drive politics becomes less believable with every day that passes.
So voting rights, and democracy, are crushed under the movement towards a world where once again, a modern Marie Antoinette may wonder at bread riots, when she has plenty of cake.
boatboy_srq on April 26, 2012 10:52 AM:
@Karen:
You've been listening to Ann Romney again, haven't you?
Peter C on April 26, 2012 11:20 AM:
I wish the Democratic Party would listen to our concerns about voting systems. Federal elections should be regulated by the federal government, not by the states. My vote in Texas should be processed identically to the vote I cast in New Jersey in 2008 and the vote I cast in Michigan in 2004.
The fact that this is a partisan issue AT ALL, is evidence that the vote is being manipulated. ANY Democrat that thinks that Republicans can be trusted to faithfully count and report the actual vote is negligently pollyannish.
There are three key things we MUST do:
1. WATCH THE VOTE! It is harder to play dirty when people are watching.
2. Stress turnout. It is harder to publish false returns when it is obvious that we've mobilized more voters at the polls than they.
3. DEMAND REFORM. Every votes should be cast with a voter-varified paper audit trail. Every election should have a follow-up AUDIT of some percentage of ballots as STANDARD PRACTICE. Audits prevent fraud by making it likely that the crime is detected. Paperless electronic voting machines (DREs) ASSURE fraud by making it undetectable.
Don't accept arguments which say we can't afford it! We spend as much on our military as all of the rest of the world COMBINED. We are the world standard for democracy (this is something that NO 'American Exceptionalist' can deny, even if it isn't really even true anymore). Having the best voting systems should be nothing less than a point of pride for anyone with a shred of patriotism.
AndThenThere'sThat on April 26, 2012 3:14 PM:
Republicans here in Missouri just spent $7 million on a 2012 GOP primary that amounted to a glorified straw poll. And a piss poor straw poll at that, since statewide turnout was around 10%.
the interesting and frightful part of this discussion is that, somewhere, Republicans actually have to sit around and plan these actions....
How to play the game:
Step 1) Missouri Republicans eager for national influence in selecting the most bat-shit insane candidate defy RNC and jump primaries.
2)With heat on for wasted taxpayer $$, the Republican controlled legislature sends a bill to Democratic governor to change primary back, but include ridiculous poison pills such as a provision that would strip the Governor's traditional role of appointing a new attorney general of secretary of state in the event they stepped down.
3)When the Governor vetoes the bill, Republicans point and scream that it's the Governor's fault.
4)Let a few scattered and sparsely populated causes decide how to appoint Missouri's delegates for convention. The best democracy money can buy style.
Paula Lutz-Lay on April 26, 2012 4:41 PM:
Omaha election official, which delivered one electoral vote, has decided to close numerous polling sites bc we can't afford it.
Now I know what it's called: bankrupting the vote!
Thanks for the excellent article Ed!
ShawnP on June 29, 2012 3:21 PM:
Funny how Democrats never start their argument with factual information, it is always something like this guy just used..."It’s well known that Republicans all over the country..."
Umm...no, it's not. You are not relating a fact, you are relating a Democrat Party canard. You are repeating like a parrot.
Your article is pointless from that opening sentence on.